2014 VNCS Annual General Meeting

VNCS Logo

Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society
2014 Annual General Meeting

Saturday, February 1, 2013
Intercultural Association (ICA) of Greater Victoria
930 Balmoral Road

10:00AM – 1:00PM
MEMBER ONLY EVENT


10:00 – 11:30 – Annual General Meeting (Reports, Election of Board etc)
11:30 – 12:00 – Lunch Break – BYOB (Bring Your Own Bento)
12:00 – 14:00 – Presentation of the film “Hatsumi

Support your society and attend the VNCS AGM on Sunday, February 1, 2014 at the Intercultural Association (ICA) of Greater Victoria (NOTE: this is a new location). Proceedings begin at 10 am with various reports recapping the past year. This will be followed by nominations and election of the new board.

If you are interested in sitting on the VNCS board, you are in luck. Some spots have just become available as some of our board members need to focus on other tasks this year. Be part of the board, it’s a great way to get to know more about the Japanese community here in Victoria. Collectively our 10 member board has close to 100 years of service since 1993, ranging from tenures of 2 to 20 years.

After the AGM portion, we will be showing a documentary film, Hatsumi.

Hatsumi

In Japanese, “shi kata ga nai” means “it can’t be helped”. As a phrase, it represents the philosophical basis of the Japanese cultural reserve, through which adversity is never acknowledged.

Nancy Okura is a Canadian of Japanese descent. During the Second World War, she was involuntarily removed from her home and relocated to an internment camp by the Government of Canada.

Shi kata ga nai prevented Nancy Okura from ever speaking about her internment.

Chris Hope is Nancy’s grandson. He is curious about his past, and his family’s archive has just been passed down to him. It consists of reels of home movie film and hundreds of photos, including many taken with a “smuggled camera” during the internment. Nancy has never provided any other context for these rare internment photographs.

After celebrating her 80th birthday in Toronto, Chris offers to take Nancy on a trip back to the west coast locations of her internment experience if Nancy will agree to put shi kata ga nai aside to tell the story of her internment experience for the first time.

On their journey, Nancy’s story comes to life in vivid detail, leading grand-mother and grandson through the Japanese-Canadian internment, across Canada and,
unexpectedly, around the world.

The VNCS will provide refreshments and appetizers during the AGM and the film, so come, relax and enjoy a great documentary.